Defining the concept of a complex issue such as Net Neutrality is no easy task. A single accepted definition of net neutrality does not seem to exist. There is a consensus on “general principles,” as indicated by the Congressional Research Service, “owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network; and should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network” (CRS, 2007).
Congress, in section 203(b) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, states that it is the policy of the United States “to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet” and “to promote the continued development of the Internet” (47 U.S.C. 230(b)(2). Furthermore, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in its jurisdiction over Internet access, provided a policy for ensuring that “broadband networks are widely deployed, open, affordable, and accessible to all consumers” (FCC Rcd 14986 (2005)).
With the advanced services and Internet-based companies, such as Google, Amazon, BitTorrent, Vuze, to name a few, the management of network traffic both upstream and downstream by broadband providers has become a major battleground, with the FCC and Congress taking center stage. The point therein lies with the advancement of broadband technology and the practices used by broadband providers to “manage” the traffic of large media files, such as is the case with peer to peer file sharing. The issue of “throttling” by broadband providers has brought the net neutrality issue to the news headlines.
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